Key Information and First Quarter Open Thread Ladies and gentlemen Minnesota Vikings Hoodie , boys and girls, children of all ages. . .We’ve made it!Welcome to the 2018 regular season opener for your Minnesota Vikings here at The Daily Norseman! We are less than an hour away from today’s opening kickoff, as the most important team in the National Football League plays host to the San Francisco 49ers in the first game of the brand new season.Yes, this isn’t the format that you’re used to seeing for the Game Threads. I’m working on a way to bring that format back but, at the present time, I’m a bit limited. So, this is what we’re going with at the moment. With that, here’s everything you need to know about today’s matchup.Time: Sunday, 9 September, noon Central timeLocation: U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MinnesotaTelevision coverage: KMSP-9 in the Twin Cities, and a bunch of other FOX affiliates across the nation that you can see right here.Radio coverage: Vikings Radio Network, Sirius Channel 81, XM Channel 226Line: Minnesota -7, Over/Under 45.5Prediction: Vikings 27, 49ers 17Three keys1) Establish the run early - Everyone is going to expect Kirk Cousins to come out slinging, looking for Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen to get the Minnesota offense moving. The bigger key, honestly, could be to get the run game going early to give a solid 49ers defense something to think about. San Francisco comes into this one without star linebacker Reuben Foster, and the Vikings would do well to exploit that early. Whether it’s Dalvin Cook Youth Customized Minnesota Vikings Jerseys , Latavius Murray, or even Mike Boone, the Vikings need to get a run game going early on.2) Give Jimmy Garoppolo a rude welcome - By the same token, Garoppolo is one of the names that’s on everyone’s mind going into this season. He help the Niners run off five consecutive wins to finish their season after a 1-10 start, and the Niners responded by making him the highest-paid player in football. . .a title he held for a couple of weeks. Everson Griffen draws a tough assignment against veteran Joe Staley, but on the other side we’ll see Danielle Hunter. . .who spent all preseason toying with opposing linemen. . .lining up against Mike McGlinchey, the Niners’ top pick in this year’s draft. Hopefully that’s a matchup that Hunter can exploit.3) Win the special teams battle - With a new punter and a kicker making his regular season debut, it’s going to be interesting to see how the special teams units function for the Vikings in this matchup. Minnesota has been solid on special teams in recent years, and against a quality opponent like the Niners, they’ll need to do what they can to find advantages. They don’t need to make mistakes on special teams and give the Niners extra opportunities.Know the Foe: Niners NationTwitter: The Daily Norseman’s collection of bloggersFaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/TheDailyNorsemanA Twitter List by DailyNorseman As yours truly is still on vacation, Ted will be along with the Open Threads for the other three quarters. Rest assured, we’ll still have a recap up soon after the game has concluded. So, keep your eye out for the Open Threads for the next three quarters, and let’s open the season with a decisive victory, eh?SKOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL VIKINGS!!!!Weekend Open Thread: September 22nd and 23rd, 2018 Good Morning!Hope your having a great weekend doing whatever you want.I have one more full day of hunting then I’m going back home Sunday in time to watch the Vikings play against the Bills, (channel 709 for us Sunday Ticket viewers).I wasn’t able to watch the game Thursday night but congratulations to the Cleveland Browns and their fans on the win over the Jets.The Browns SB Nation blog is Dawgs by Nature if you want to stop by and leave a comment.In the meantime we have our weekend thread full of beer recommendations, nap strategies, crock pot and smoker recipes. This Sunday’s game day feast is going to consist of venison burgers on the grill with corn on the cob and tossed salad.Have another cup of coffee and drop by for some fan wisdom, snark and hang out with the cool kids鈩?for once. With that, let’s do this.Around the DN since our last thread:Dan has Week 3: Bills News and Notes www.minnesotavikingsteamonline.com , he reads up on our opponents so we don’t have to.Thanks Dan!Chris has the visiting Buffalo Bills injury report with Shaq Lawson out and LeSean McCoy questionable, for the Vikings four players are listed as out includingrunning back Dalvin Cook, Everson Griffen, TE David Morgan (knee) and CB/PR Marcus Sherels (ribs).On the plus side Elf is no longer on the shelf and is expected to play.Chris also has Five Good Questions with Buffalo Rumblings as we take a look at this week’s game from the other side.From Buffalo Rumblings Corey (traditional Welcome Aboard to you) has Five Questions with our blog the Daily Norseman about the Vikings.Finally Saxyprince drops Climbing the Pocket: Episode 110 Bills preview with @bradleygelber.Vikings news from other sources:From Vikings.com and their notebook: Weatherly, Bower ready for extra reps in Griffen’s absence.Wobby caught up with former Cowboys QB and CBS Sports’ analyst Tony Romo on Friday to get his take on Sunday’s game and more.Pat Elflein is ready to make his 2018 season debut.Head Coach Mike Zimmer addressed the media from the TCO Performance Center on Friday.At 1500espn Matthew Coller takes a closer look at tackle Brian O’Neill’s debut and DT Tom Johnson is taking his unexpected return to the Vikings in stride.Courtney Cronin at the NFC North blog takes a look at one of the most unbelievable passes of QB Kirk Cousins career,League news: Consistent with the weekend thread I’ll post league news in the comments, however depending on how much time I have in the morning, league news might be delayed until later.We come to today’s media selection: AC/DC - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt CheapAgain, we all know the rules, but in case someone is new:-No discussion of politics or religion-No feeding of the trolls-This isn’t a male version of The View, so leave the gender hatred at the door-Keep the bad language to a minimum (using the spoiler tags, if you must)-Speaking of which, if discussing a newer show or movie, please use spoiler tags-No pictures that could get someone fired or in serious trouble with their employer-If you can’t disagree in a civil manner, feel free to go away-While navigating the open thread, just assume it’s sarcasmWith that, the beer light is on and the bar is open. Belly up and tie one on. Don’t forget to tip your waitress, try the venison chili and as always, Welcome Aboard and Skol Vikings!